Walter m



(No Model.)

W. M. JACKSON.

MARINE. PROPULSION.

. No. 385,183. Patented Jane. 26, 1888.

NITED STATES W'ALTER M. JACKSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MARINE PROPULSION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 385,183, dated June 26,1888. Application filed December 16, 1886. Renewed December 15, 1837.Serial No. 258,015. (No model.)

To all whom it 12mg concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER M. J AoKsoN, of New York, in the county ofNew York and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Marine Propulsion; andI do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My invention relates to marine propulsion, and has for its object toprovide new devices by which a vessel may be driven through the water ata higher speed than has heretofore been attained, and this withoutshaft, wheel, or ordinary rudder.

My invention still further consists in means for guiding andmanipulating a vessel, by which I secure the utmost freedom of control,and stop, start, revolve, or move in any direction at will.

The following specification and accompanying drawings will sufficientlyillustrate my invention to enable those skilled in the art to construct,apply, and operate the same.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1' is a view in longitudinalvertical section of a vessel embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is aview in section showing the manner of coupling the sections of adischarge-pipe.

As near the bottom of the vessel as possible I locate a steamboiler andconnect to the same a steam-pump of suitable character, prefera blya'Worthington double-acting piston.

At the base of the pump A may be seen the suction-pipes c 0, leadingthrough the bottom of the vessel and opening into the water on one orboth sides of the vessels keel, B. Said suction-pipes are provided withcheck-valves.

Opening from the pumpcyliuder may be seen the outlets D D, also providedwith checkvalves. Both outlets communicate with the high-servicereceiver E. A stop-cock, f, is placed between the receiver and pump.This is not necessary, but might prove convenient. The high-servicereceiver E is constructed of great strength-of steel, iron, or othermateriallined, if necessary, with copper or noncorrosive material, andhas one orznorc outlets, (two being shown in the drawings,) S S. Oneoutlet leads to the stern of the vessel, the

other to the bow. Both outlets are provided with suitable valves, st,said valves being operated from the pilot-house or other convenientplace for the purpose of increasing or diminishing the speed of thevessel. Inserted upon the receiver E may be seen projectionsi and e, tbeing a glass tube provided with stop cocks above and below, entering anair-chamber above and water-chamber below, the 011- ject of said tubebeing to determine the quantity of water in the receiver E and thedegree of air-compression at a glance, while 6 is a pressure -indicatorgiving the number of pounds to the square inch.

The outlet-pipes S S are constructed practig cally alike, except the oneleading to the bow may have an oblong opening conforming to the shape ofthe vessels prow or cut-water, while that at the stern has preferably acircular out let. These pipes pass through the vessel and are fastenedto descend vertically into the water, their outlets being below thewater-line. A clamp or flanged plate is secured to the ends of thevessel, (shown by dotted lines H H,) and to these clamps are securedrings KK K, through which the outlet-pipes pass.

At the point in m ajoint is madelike a common ground-seat union,eXceptalock-nut, an, is employed over the union for the purpose of 80determining the friction of the joint. The object of this device is toprovide a rotating water-tight joint. Below the joint and at tached toit may be seen levers 0 0, the object of which is the attachment ofsuitable connections which may lead to the pilot'house or other suitableplace for the purpose of rotating or changing the direction of theopening in the outlet-pipes. Having made a fire under the boiler andraised the steam-pressure to, say, eighty pounds to the square inch, Istart the pump. Now, as the water is taken into the pump and driven outinto the receiver E, the outlet from said receiver being of smallercapacity-than the inlet, the water becomes accumulative. Now, if thesteampis'ton has an area five times greater than the pump-piston, theneighty pounds of steam is capable of pumping against a reflex pressureof five hundred pounds from the receiver. Now, as 100 water is notcompressible, there is no elasticity, and to store the water in thereceiver in such a manner that dynamic value will result I must put thewater in a dynamic condition of compression. This I do by providing aclosed receiver at the top, so that no air can escape, and as the wateris packed in under the column of air the air is more and morecompressed, reflecting its own elasticity upon the water, and thus Ihave the water in a dynamic state of compression.

My object in providing this dynamic compression of water is, first, tosoften the movements of my machinery; second, to store power; third, toeven the pulsations of the steam and pump pistons; fourth, to secure asteady uniform flow of water through my outlet-pipes; 'fifth, to make myreceiver its own governor of the pump and steam pistons without dangerof sudden stoppage of said pistons, and, sixth, to provide a high steadypressure, by means of which I accomplish a most important part of myinvention.

By actual experiment I have determined that the secret of propellingvessels effectively and economicallyby throwing ajet of water 25,against water consists in the intensity of contact, the impact or suddenness of the blow, and if the blow be continuous the reflex thrust isnearly the full power of the primary expendi ture of force. Water aloneis practically and chemically non-interstitial in composition. Its veryslight compressibility is due to the mechanical admixture of air.Therefore, if I experiment with a wooden plank upon its surface bystriking violently, the suddenness of the impact causes a simultaneousconcentration of energy at the point of contact, and, the water beingnon-compressible, the plank does not penetrate but is broken by thereaction, while if a soft and graduated blow be given the water willcalmly recede under its law of mobility,and the sum of the energydisplayed will be radiated in all directions. The power being consumedby thetime and ease of the resistance, there is no concentration ofenergy in this last experiment, no suddenness of im pact, no marked andsolidly-concentrated resistance.

By my experiments I determine that a vessel twenty-six inches long andeight inches wide, modeled after the yacht Mayflower, displacing sixhundred and ninety-seven cubic inches of fresh water,will,withadischarge-orifice one sixty-fourth of an inch in diameter, under four,hundred pounds pressureto the square inch, travel thirty-one feet persecond, while the same vessel with a discharge-opening of onethirty-second of an inch under one hundred pounds pressure moves buttwentytwofeet, and, again,with a discharge-opening of onesixteenth of aninch under twenty-five pounds to the square inch will go only eightfeet, while a discharge opening of one-eighth of an inch under six and aquarter pounds pressure will give a speed of less than one foot persecond.

My invention embodies other features consequently valuable.

Inasmuch as I provide a means of rotating the dischargepipes or changingthe dlrectlon of the current of water-discharge, I can readily changethe course of my vessel without materially lesseningherspeed. A rudderchanges course or direction by offering resistance, thus unbalancingdirection, while by my system I preserve the driving force, simplythrowing the stern around, thus' causing the vessel to sheer in anydirection from a straight line. I can also, at a moments notice, changethe discharge of water from the stern to bow and thus cause almostimmediate stops when under full headway. rect line sidewise or revolveas if upon a pivot.

I am aware that others have sought to compete with screws and wheels bymeans of water pumped out of the sterns of vessels, and have also madeprovision for steering and gulding vessels by such means; but noneheretofore have ever made any effort to place the water after it ispumped in a state of high dynamic compression; nor have they discoveredthat such high pressure is particularly efficient by means of thesuddenness of impact upon the resisting water.

I make no claim in this application to the method disclosed, as the sameforms the subject of pending application Serial No. 259,953, filedJanuary 6, 1888.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by. Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a suitable pump or Water-forcing device havingwater-inlet pipe and outlet or outlets, the latter being of smallercapacity than the inlet, and water-storage tank or reservoir adapted tocontain air or other elastic medium, the said tank being located betweenthe pump or water-forcin g device and the propelling or guiding outletor outlets.

2. In a device for propelling or handling a floating vessel, thecombination of a pump or water-forcing device having a water-inlet, anoutlet-pipe the submerged dischargeend of which is of smaller capacitythan the inlet, a tank or receiver adapted to contain air or otherelastic medium and located between the pump and discharge-pipe, andvalves for cutting off the water to and from the tank, sub stantially asset forth.

3. In a device for propelling and handling a floating vessel, thecombination, with a tank or reservoir provided with an air-cushion, apump or other device for forcing water into said tank or reservoir, andan inlet-pipe leading to said tank, of a water-discharge pipe connectedto said tank or reservoir at or near the bottom thereof, the submergedoutlet of said discharge-pipe being of smaller capacity than the inlet,substantially as set forth.

4. In a device for guiding or steering floating vessels, thecombination, with a pump having an inlet, of a storage-tank into whichthe water is forced under a column of air or other elastic medium, apipe leading from said storage-tank, and a movable discharge-pipe I canalso move in a dicommunicating with said tank and having a submergeddischarge-orifice of less capacity than the water-inlet, substantiallyas set forth.

5. In a device for propelling and guiding a floating vessel, thecombination, with apnmp or water-forcing'device and inlet-pipe leadingthereto, of astorage-tank into which the water is forced under a columnof air, a dischargepipe a section of which is adapted to rotate and thuschange the direction of the issuing jet of water, the submerged outletof said rotating section being of smaller capacity than the water-inlet,and valves for cutting off the water to and from the tank, substantiallyas set forth.

6. The hereiudescribed apparatus for propelling or maneuvering a vessel,consisting, first, in a suitable boiler; second, in any suitablewater-forcing device; third, in the employment of any suitable means fortaking the water in which the vessel is wholly or partially submergedthrough the vessel and into said water-forcing device, and fourth, indischarging said water by means of suitable conduits connecting withsaid water-forcing de- 25 vice, said conduits having theirdischarge-orifices opening into the water in which the vessel is whollyor partially submerged at a greater pressure to the square inch thanthat exerted to the square inch by the boiler, for ,0 the purpose ofcreating aqueous molecular confusion or the impact of water particles inthe water in which the vessel is wholly or partially submerged,establishing intense reac-

